AT&T’s Acquisition of Alltel Affects Cell Tower Property Owners

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While many property owners leasing their land to house Alltel’s telecom equipment should reap the benefits from the upgrades that will be imposed by AT&T after the acquisition, the majority of them do not realize it.

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AT&T announced, via its website newsroom, it will be acquiring assets from Atlantic Tele-Network for $780 million. This acquisition of assets operating under the Alltel brand will provide AT&T more spectrum, network assets and nearly 600,000 new subscribers and affects the value of property owners’ land leased for the placement of Alltel equipment. Due to the difference in network technologies used by the respective wireless carriers, [CDMA vs GSM], AT&T will have to overhaul the entire Alltel network to make it compatible with AT&T’s network. According to an AT&T spokeswoman, the upgrade would include 4G wireless data service.

Property owners currently engaged in cell tower leases with Alltel, will find that the upgrades to the telecom equipment on their land and to the network will increase the value of their leased land. With telecom company acquisitions and upgrades of wireless networks paired with the increasing demand for faster mobile connectivity, value of cell towers and the land that houses them increases, under simple supply and demand economic principles.

“While many property owners leasing their land to house Alltel’s telecom equipment should reap the benefits from the upgrades that will be imposed by AT&T after the acquisition, the majority of them do not realize it,” according to Hugh Odom, President and Founder of Vertical Consultants. “Property owners must be aware that while spectrum is extremely important to wireless networks, so is land needed to house telecom equipment that will facilitate wireless connectivity, thus increasing the value of current and potential cell tower property owners’ land,” Odom states.

Vertical Consultants has, since its 2010 inception, been an advocate for property owners leasing their land to telecom companies and cell tower developers. The success in increasing property owners’ cell tower rents provides proof of disparities between these land owners and their telecom tenants. On average, Vertical Consultants increases property owners’ cell tower rents by 142 percent, and in just over one year, recovered over 100 years’ worth of unpaid cell tower rent and expenses, collectively.

Vertical Consultants was founded in 2010 by Hugh Odom and is comprised of a group of wireless industry veterans with decades of combined experience. Vertical Consultants specializes in issues surrounding the wireless telecom industry and prides itself as a source of information and advocate for property owners. Vertical Consultants’ experience in the industry allows it to offer its clients unmatched services, expertise and results: all of which provide the telecom consulting firm opportunities to allocate a profit portions to philanthropy. To learn more about Vertical Consultants and how its success provides this allowance, visit http://www.vertical-consultants.com or contact Vertical Consultants at info(at)vertical-consultants(dot)com or 877.456.7552.
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